Friday, August 01, 2008
He's One Year Old Today...
This time last year, I was sitting in a hospital with my wife, who had just given birth to our third boy, Dylan. Readers of this blog will remember the journey we took from sheer excitement, to fear and anxiety to amazing relief over the course of several days. Dylan went from birth, to struggling for breath, to sedation in a NICU 120 miles away, to his final healthy journey back home.
My wife has eloquently written today about those uncertain days. The memories of those days are somewhat clouded for me, not just because of Dylan, but because my grandmother succumbed to illness the very next week. My memories of August 2007 are both joyous and sad. But today, as we prepare to go visit our respective families, as I watch my baby boy play on the hearth with his See-N-Say, as he pulls himself up and smiles, I am thankful beyond expression for this child, and how special he is to his mother and me.
Happy First Birthday, little Dylan. Daddy loves you.Labels: Children, Dylan, Family
.: posted by
Dave
9:45 AM
Friday, December 28, 2007
Buy American, You Insensitive Clod!
Today was spent with my oldest son, Ethan, doing some shopping and such. After we had a chocolate malt, I stopped at a local grocer to buy butter for my wife. When I was getting out of the truck, I was approached by an elderly gentleman who began the following exchange:
Man: Excuse me, son, I see you are driving one of those foreign trucks. I'd like to ask you to buy American next time you buy a truck.
Me: Yeah? Why is that?
Man: We're losing $19bn per year because of those Japanese car makers...
Me: What about the assembly plants here in Texas?
Man: Those parts are assembled here, but made overseas!
Me: What about the global economy? Jobs that can be done cheaper overseas should probably be done there, right?
Man: I've been studying this for twenty years, and I warned that this would happen, and people like you just won't listen.
Me: But I did listen, by buying a Toyota that will last years longer than a (looking at the man's truck)... a GMC.
Man: Grumble.
Ethan seemed oblivious to the whole conversation, which was fine with me. I didn't want to belabor the point, so while the man fumed, I walked into the store, and bought my American-made butter from my American cashier.
There's not really a point to all this except to say that, well... when I go to the grocer, I'm probably not in the mood for political prosetylization. I just wanted some butter. And a little time with my son. So if you happen to want to sell me on the merits of "buying American", please don't do it in a grocery store parking lot.Labels: Crotchety Old Men, Family, Politics
.: posted by
Dave
3:13 PM
Thursday, December 27, 2007
My son just decided, as he was watching HGTV's Divine Designs, that he wanted this ceiling fan for his room. This will not be funny to anyone but those of us who know him so well. See, my son has an obsession with fans. He now thinks his existing ceiling fan is not good enough. He needs this one. He is, for your information, only four years old. Needless to say, he isn't getting this fan. But it's funny to hear him talk about it.Labels: Children, Family
.: posted by
Dave
8:18 PM
Christmas at Our House:
This year, my mom managed to make the trip here to Texas. Last year, we had gone to Michigan and Tennessee on a two week jaunt. Readers of this blog know that there is one less family member (my Granny, who passed away in August) and one more family member (my 4 1/2 month old son, Dylan). I'm really glad that my mom was able to come. I didn't want her spending Christmas alone.
We procured a 10' Douglas Fir this year, which didn't take to water very well, so it has slowly withered away. It's still mostly on the green side, but the orange smell that accompanied it at first is no more.
The boys and my wife made the tree decorations out of oranges, popcorn, pine cones, cinnamon, and cranberries. Mostly, it turned out well, although the dog and the middle child both wanted to eat the ornaments.
Gifts began arriving weeks ago, mostly from Amazon. Some though still have not found their way here. Needless to say, this has been a very frustrating logistical Christmas. Mom is leaving this weekend, so hopefully her gift arrives before then!
I won't go into the litany of gifts that the kids received (because they are too numerous), but my wife's favorite thing is probably her new anodized pots and pans. She cooks a lot, and she was in great need for some well-made cookware. Apparently, I managed to fill that need adequately.
As for me, I was given some cash, and I filled some of my own software needs. I purchased a nice little suite called Evernote (for 60% off). Evernote allows me to quickly clip documents, websites, etc. and save them into a local database. This comes in handy for blogging. I also paid for my licensed copy of mSafe, which allows me to remotely lock my Treo and wipe the contents of the SD card and the device in case I lose it or in case it is (God forbid!) stolen.
I was also able to purchase some long needed replacement parts for my Swiss Army Cybertool and my Startech watch.
My wife also got me a wet-dry shaver that, so far, seems to be working quite well, although the trimming option isn't much of a trimmer. I've definitely needed a new shaver.
Apparently, I also have some other gifts on the way (like I said, this has been a logistically challenging Christmas season), and that's great. However, having my family together, seeing their faces and their smiles, and having free time to catch up on housework, and to be with my boys, and my wife, and my mom... there's more joy in those things than any gift could bring. I hope your Christmas was as good as mine was.Labels: Christmas, Family, Holidays
.: posted by
Dave
5:13 PM
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